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I’ve espoused the virtues of chicken wings before in a previous chicken wing recipe, but I’m surprised it wasn’t for this honey soy recipe (probably because I’ve made it so many times I’m on auto-pilot and forget that I’m actually making them).

The actual name of the dish is pretty misleading. If you just mixed honey and soy with chicken wings, it’ll taste pretty flat. It should actually be called Garlic, ginger, honey and soy chicken wings, because it’s really the garlic and ginger that gives it that delicious kick. When I first found the recipe, I scoffed because I really did just want to mix honey, soy and wings together. Who wants to fuss with garlic and ginger? Well, you need to if you want something yummy.

If the Cherubs have a friend over for dinner for the first time, there’s a fair chance they’ll ask for honey soy chicken wings to be served. It’s almost an initiation ritual – if you like these wings as much as I do, then you’re ok and we can definitely be friends. Thus far, luckily for the Cherubs, the wings have received a resounding thumbs up from everyone. And I usually then get a text from their friend’s mum asking for the recipe. So here it is!

Honey Soy Chicken Wings

Serves: 6 people

Ingredients:

2 kg chicken mid-wings

1/2 cup honey

1/3 cup soy sauce

6 garlic cloves, finely grated

2 tablespoons ginger, finely grated

Cook:

Preheat oven to 180 degrees

Line 2 baking trays with baking paper

Mix honey, soy sauce, garlic and ginger in a large bowl until combined

Add the chicken mid-wings and mix well

Arrange the mid-wings in a single layer on the baking trays

Bake for 20 minutes, then turn mid-wings and bake for another 20 minutes or until the chicken is nicely browned.

Serve with rice and steamed vegetables or salad.

Notes:

Mid-wings are the wing bits of choice in our family, but if you’re keen on meatier parts, go for the drummettes.

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As much as I would love to make totally amazing, fresh and inspired meals from scratch every night of the week with a wide smile and sparkle in my eye… when I’ve been out all day, just had a hard week, or my day involves the Cherubs trying to maim each other because he/she is staring at me well only because she/he said I was a bum but it’s because he/she said I was a custard… I just prefer to hide in my favourite corner of the family room with my mug of ginger tea, some nuts and the Food Channel.

But when the darlings eventually hunt me down for some sustenance because they couldn’t find custard anywhere, even with half an hour to go until dinner, I still feel the need to feed on something with reasonably complex flavours. And bread with peanut butter doesn’t come anywhere near complex. Ever.

And that’s where my large upright freezer with the 3 drawers and 3 shelves rescues me from my distress.

I freeze raw, marinated and cooked food, so in the afternoon, morning (or the night before if I’m unusually organised) I just take out a protein/pre-cooked meal of choice to defrost and I’m ready to cook or reheat at the end of the day. Perfect for those times when someone gets hurt because he/she said there’s a chicken on my head.

So here’s a rundown of what’s in my freezer-for-those-rainy-days.

Frozen meat

Portions of meat are handy when I haven’t had the chance or energy to go to the shops. Just defrost, marinate (or not) and cook.

Lamb cutlets or steak are a great standby because they don’t take too long to defrost.

2. Frozen meals

If I’m already crushing the garlic or mincing onions for 4 people, it won’t take that much extra time to crush or mince and cook for more. So when I make teriyaki chicken (a firm favourite with the Cherubs) or pretty much any dish, I cook 2 kgs of it, put the excess into large glass containers, let them cool down and then freeze.

If you’re more organized than I am, label the containers so you know what’s in them. Otherwise, I’ve never had too much trouble identifying what’s in the containers and I’m also pretty flexible. If I’ve taken out spaghetti bolognaise and it turns out to be burrito mince, I just pack the pasta and parmesan away in the fridge for another day, pull out the tortillas and grate some colby cheese. No sweat.

The meals I find perfect for freezing, especially because they taste better the day or week later are: butter chicken, burrito mince, spag bol and soups.

3. Marinated meat

I get fresh meat, marinate it and pop into the freezer. This is for the meals which once cooked, I don’t think really stands up to freezing and reheating. Or when I’ve got a rare burst of energy, I just get some meat and marinate it. I then just have to cook it when I need it.

I always keep a pack each of frozen peas and corn. They’re yummy, healthy and cook in a flash. Sometimes if I’ve forgotten to cook rice, or we’ve just got enough left over rice for 3 people, Panda will happily have peas and corn as a substitute. Also in there is ginger, galangal and lemongrass, so I have access to them when they’re not in season.

I admit I’ve got a whole freezer to play with, but that’s only been a recent occurrence. Previously I had a normal fridge with a little freezer section. I’ve never played tetris, but Daddyken thinks I’d be amazing at it considering how I was able to pack a few week’s worth of frozen meals into that little freezer. But back then I also just made less ‘extra’ portions for freezing.

So while I’ll never be able to manage a wide smile or sparkle every night of the week, or ever, at least someone’s got a chicken on your head doing a poo, employees at American restaurants are still being caught doing every dodgy thing they’ve ever done exactly on the one night that the surveillance cameras are on, care of Food Network’s Mystery Diners, and I still get to eat food I love.

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When we’re on our way back home from a holiday, whether it’s been 2 nights or a week, I invariably say I want something wet when the subject of dinner pops up. Something soupy or something sauce-ie. Something noodlie.

No matter how fantastic the holiday was – whether we’ve been dining fine or fast, I always want something wet upon my return. It’s like the wonderfully comforting feeling of sleeping in your own bed again. It’s like a welcome home hug… for my taste buds.

This dish is similar to something I would order after a trip away – with the inevitable pain of holiday unpacking and washing to do, you didn’t think I’d say ‘cook’ would you?! It’s crammed full of flavour, slippery chewy noodles, tender, juicy beef and vegetables to help that holiday digestion.

The Cherubs are picky with the type of vegetables they eat, so I just put everything in separate bowls on the table and they just pick what they want and put it together themselves. It also means I don’t have to get the timing right with when to add the vegetables and beef together, so I won’t have a mix of over and under cooked food. Less stress, more happy. But most importantly of all – that gravy’s wet. Home Sweet Home!

Beef Noodles With Gravy

Ingredients

250g noodles of your choice

1 1/2 teaspoons sesame oil

350g rump steak, sliced thinly

1 tablespoon dark soy sauce

2 teaspoons Shaoxing rice wine or dry sherry

1/2 teaspoon sugar

1 garlic clove finely chopped

1 teaspoon cornflour

1 bunch bok choy (or green vegetable of your choice)

1/2 bag bean sprouts

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

Fried shallots (you can get these from any Chinese grocery store or fry your own), coriander and lemon, to serve

Sauce

1 tablespoon finely grated ginger

1 spring onion finely chopped

400ml chicken stock

3 tablespoons oyster sauce

1 tablespoon Shaoxing rice wine or dry sherry

1/2 teaspoon dark soy sauce

1 teaspoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon sesame oil

1 1/2 tablespoons cornflour

Let’s cook!

1. Cook the noodles according to the packet instructions

2. Drain the noodles and mix in 1 teaspoon of the sesame oil, transfer to a bowl

3. Combine the beef, soy sauce, rice wine, sugar, garlic cornflour and the remaining sesame oil and mix. Marinate in the fridge for an hour.

4. Blanch the vegetables in a pot of boiling water for 30 seconds, drain well and transfer to a bowl.

5. Heat a wok or deep fry pan over high heat and add the oil (make sure the oil is very hot).

6. Drain the beef and stir-fry in 2 batches for 1 minute or until it changes colour. Remove the beef into a bowl.

7. For the gravy: In the same pan, stir-fry the ginger and spring onion until fragrant.

8. Add the rest of the sauce ingredients (except the corn flour) and bring to the boil.

9. Combine the cornflour with some water to make a paste, add to the sauce and simmer until thickened.

10. Add the beef back into the wok or pan and toss quickly to coat with the gravy. Transfer to a bowl.

To serve

Put the bowls of noodles, blanched vegetables, beef and gravy, fried onions, coriander and lemon at the table. Let everyone serve themselves with what they want. The usual process is to put the noodles at the bottom, then the vegetables, beef and sauce, fried shallots, coriander and a squeeze of lemon. Mix and enjoy!

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It’s always good to have a few recipes where you’re guaranteed a favourable reception when you take the plate to the table. No one wants to bring a dish out after all that effort in the kitchen just to get heart-felt exclamations of Oh not this! or I don’t want to eat it. I want a cheese sandwich or worse still – stoned silence.

Soccer Boy isn’t too keen on eating meat, but will always ask for seconds when I serve bo luc lac. It’s a Vietnamese dish and translates to ‘shaking beef’ – not because the beef’s scared of being eaten, the crazy amount of garlic will make anyone scared of opening their mouths again, or the eaters are scared to actually eat it, but because you’re supposed to shake the wok to sear the sides of the beef.

For some reason, the transition from cold Winter to warm Spring weather always reminds me to make this dish. And the beauty of bo luc lac? The combination of the fish sauce and garlic is an amazingly strong flavour combination, resulting in a very yummy and moreish meal. Yay! We’re having ‘look luck’ for dinner! It’s fresh and light. It’s quick to prepare and cook. Bring it on!

Vietnamese Shaking Beef

Serves 4

Gluten Free

Ingredients

400g beef sirloin or rump cut into 2cm cubes

6 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

1 tablespoon fish sauce

¾ tablespoon sugar

½ teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

Lemon wedges and coriander, to serve

Let’s get shaking!

Combine all the ingredients (except lemon and coriander) and coat the beef well with the marinade. Let it stand for at least 1/2 an hour, or in the fridge for about 2 hours.

Preheat a wok over high heat and add 2 tablespoons oil to coat the pan

When the oil is hot, add the beef in a single layer (there should be a sizzling sound – if there isn’t, take the meat out and wait a little longer). Don’t move the beef around – let it sear for about 1 minute

Grab the wok by the handle and give it a quick shake to flip the meat to sear the other side for another minute

Shake the wok again and check to see that the sides of the beef are seared and even a little charred and the meat is medium rare – this should only take another 3 minutes.

Take the beef out and serve with the lemon wedges, coriander, fresh vegies and rice.

Notes:

I always cook 2 kgs of this dish (!) and so prefer to cook on the bbq because I can do a large amount at once on the hotplate, with the heat at super high to get that spectacular char on the meat that I think is an absolute must for this dish.

My mum sometimes forgoes the rice and just wraps the beef in a piece of lettuce with a squeeze of lemon and coriander. Yummy!

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I suck at doing vegetables. I really do. Salads? No balance and drenched in dressing. Stir fries? Never enough ‘wok breath’. So I just alternate between vegie sticks and steamed broccoli every night.

And I’m not saying it just to garner protestations in favour of my culinary genius with non-proteins. Because seriously, there’d be a long uncomfortable silence from everyone.

Except maybe my family. With my family, honesty is generously doled out like the continuous stream of water that gushes out when there’s a massive hole in the water pipe out in the street. Daddyken might say something supportive like Oh but you steam your vegies perfectly most times or You chop your fresh vegies really well. But I don’t make him in trouble for being such a smart ass, because firstly, he’s right, and secondly, it gives me a chance to remind him of his repertoire of culinary disasters.

I’m more comfortable cooking and eating meat, because that’s what I grew up with. In the olden times, meat was expensive, so the Chinese believed that having lots of protein to eat meant that your family was prosperous and doing well. So vegetables are really just an aside.

Notice how Peking duck pancakes only come with a sliver of cucumber and a shallot? I think the vegies are mostly for colour, because if you took the vegies out, duck skin, duck meat, hoisin sauce and a little floury pancake would still taste amazing. So the odds were cumulatively stacking up against me and vegies anyway.

However, things on the green front are now looking a little more promising. Since Soccer Boy started school, I’ve been working from home 1 – 2 days a week and found that I needed a lunch that had flavour, was easy to eat and not messy (oily touch pads on laptops make life hard). Also, I didn’t want anything heavy as I was pretty much sitting down for 4 hours straight (the toilets are a lot closer at home than they are in the office, so it almost doesn’t feel like I’ve actually moved at all).

That’s why I love this Cauliflower and Mushroom soup. Even though it’s light, I’m not faint from hunger an hour later, and it can be made in advance and frozen until needed. I also get a little buzz from the fact that I’m cooking with vegetables – and it’s absolutely delicious!

Cauliflower and Mushroom Soup

Serves 3 – 4

Ingredients:

4 tablespoons olive oil

2 leeks, chopped into 1/2 cm rounds

500g button mushrooms

1 medium cauliflower

3 teaspoons curry powder

3 teaspoons Dijon mustard (or to taste)

1/2 cup chicken stock

1/2 cup cream

2 tablespoons parsley, finely chopped

Sour cream (optional)

3 – 4 slices sourdough (optional)

Cook:

Preheat oven to 180°C

Coarsely chop mushrooms and cauliflower and put on separate trays lined with foil